The story of how Valerie’s House, the nonprofit that offers support groups and activities for grieving children, found the right house in Charlotte County is one of coincidences.
It began with personal tragedies and morphed into community interest and help from a local business leader.
Valerie’s House was started by former journalist Angela Melvin, who created a safe haven for grieving children in her native Fort Myers.
She lost her mother when she was 10, and at that time, there were no support groups or organizations to turn to.
After founding the first Valerie’s House in 2016, named after her late mother Valerie, she opened one in Naples.
Enter former Babcock Neighborhood School kindergarten teacher Christine Carey. A student in her class, Connor Green, was killed in a 2018 car crash in the community.
“I had to work with 17 grieving children at the end of the school year,” Carey recalled.
The tragedy hit close to home, as Carey’s mother, Cindy Casola, a Charlotte County teacher, died when Carey was in her 20s.
After seeing the impact Green’s death had on his fellow students and friends, Carey chose a new career path by joining the team at Valerie’s House, becoming Charlotte County director for the nonprofit.
For several years, the support group and activities were hosted at First United Methodist Church, now New Life Church, in Punta Gorda and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Charlotte.
After a series of fundraising efforts, grants, donations and a loan, Carey found what she thought would be the perfect permanent house to hold support groups, dinners and activities for children.
A house built in 1915 on East McKenzie Street in Punta Gorda seemed to be the ideal property with an adjoining small building to be used by teenagers in the program.
Inside the main house, students could meet in rooms designated for their grade levels.
Then the coincidences began to accumulate. Her husband Richard Carey, who has been making repairs to the home, said his family members from previous generations used to play in that house, and his great grandfather, a builder built similar houses in that neighborhood during that era.
Syd Kitson, who developed the Babcock Ranch community, meanwhile, made Valerie’s House in Punta Gorda his company’s chosen nonprofit of the year.
After Valerie’s closed on the sale of the home Sept. 11, Kitson and a crew of 109 arrived and performed a number of chores Sept. 15, including painting, helping with renovations and offering business advice, among other offerings.
There remains a lot of work ahead to make the house and attached dwelling federally compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition to needing a ramp leading into the house, doorways have to be widened to allow for wheelchair access.
Until the necessary renovations are completed, children of Valerie’s House will continue to meet at the churches.
The ADA-complaint restroom’s cost has been estimated at $9,000, parking with striping and signage will cost more than $6,000 and a ramp will cost more than $26,000.
More fundraisers will be hosted to help pay down the mortgage on the property that sold for $429,000, according to property records.
Carey said obtaining the house was a countywide effort.
Valerie’s House served more than 400 children and their caregivers in the county from 2019 to 2022, according to the nonprofit’s last report.
Walking up the flight of stairs to the loft area, which will serve as both a meeting area for middle-schoolers and, when they’re not present, Carey’s office, where two framed photos are displayed on the wall. One is of Carey’s mother and the other is of Green.
